1980 Georgia Championship Wrestling: February (2/2)
Tommy Rich gets his World Title match against Harley Race or does he? Dusty Rhodes calls in an old friend against The Funks. Plus, links to watch along!
Welcome to Georgia Championship Wrestling, in this edition you’ll read about Tommy Rich, Harley Race, Mr. Wrestling II, Terry Funk, Dory Funk Jr., Dusty Rhodes, Wahoo McDaniel, Ole and Lars Anderson, Ivan Koloff and Alexis Smirnoff, Austin Idol, Kevin Sullivan, Tony Atlas, Abdullah the Butcher, The Great Mephisto, Baron von Raschke, and a whole lot more!
Get caught up with Part One for February.
Sat. Feb. 16 Georgia Championship Wrestling
Can’t find the show so let’s look at the results from WrestlingData. The main note is King Kong Mosca coming to town.
Baron Von Raschke defeated Chic Donovan
2 on 1 Handicap Match: Abdullah the Butcher defeated Mike Davis and Mike Fever
King Kong Mosca defeated Marvin Turner
Kevin Sullivan defeated The Mercenary
Sat. Feb 23 Georgia Championship Wrestling
Tommy Rich interview. He still wants Harley Race. A packed house will be behind him tomorrow at The Omni. Tommy fires up. (Watch)
TV Champ Austin Idol interview. The nucleus. The kingpin. Tommy Rich needs to be whipped! (Watch)
National TV Title Austin Idol vs. Tommy Rich. The way Idol displays the belt is money. Great pace to this. Idol bails. NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race is here at ringside in a great suit. Really good wrestling and a hot studio crowd. Tommy Rich won’t quit. He’s such a good babyface. He gets the sleeper. Ref bump. Harley takes his jacket off and headbutts Idol by mistake!! NEW CHAMPION!!! My favorite TV match so far. Race and Idol double team Rich after. The babyfaces clear out trying to help. Race bails and they all hammer Idol until he’s pulled away. Rich’s knee is messed up! Selling it huge. This is great TV. (Watch)
Solie says he needs to talk to Race before the show continues. Selling this so well. Race says no one knows what it takes to be the World Champion. He’s gonna do whatever he has to do. Tommy Rich is a threat. Solie is disgusted at him. Race was the perfect blend of tough yet dastardly. (Watch)
Georgia Heavyweight Champion Mr. Wrestling II vs. Tenryu. Yes, that’s right, it’s young Genichiro Tenryu! The crowd is singing Two Upside Your Head. Awesome fans. Really nice legitimate feeling match. II wins with the kneelift. (Watch)
Freddie Miller update on Tommy Rich. Rushed to hospital with knee injury. Promoter Paul Jones will deliver a World Title match at The Omni. Mr. Wrestling II gets the match if Rich can’t go. II accepts it and cuts a great angry promo on that low down Harley Race. He dedicates it to Tommy Rich. 18k at The Omni will see a World Champion go down. He promises. Money promo from Mr. Wrestling II. (Watch)
Terry Funk and Dory Funk Jr. interview. We look at some tape from Amarillo. Show a dump. It reminds Terry of Atlanta! Shooting rats. King of the Death Matches. Terry’s so good. He rips that egg sucking dog Dusty Rhodes and those two rats Jack and Jerry Brisco. This is extreme hatred. Texans are superior to stupid Okies. Solie’s confused why they’re here. Terry’s wondering where is Dusty? Ran him out of Georgia. No guts. They bought Khan and Tanaka’s contract for the next match against The Briscos. Instead Wahoo McDaniel and Dusty Rhodes hit the ring!! Wild chaos! Terry crawls away like a coward. Great segment. (Watch)
Dusty Rhodes & Wahoo McDaniel promo. Dusty is beyond fired up! His hair is crazy. Sucka what happened now baby! He and Wahoo are brothers. Tag team match at The Omni tomorrow. Dusty’s going for Terry’s arm. (Watch)
Austin Idol interview. Money ain’t nothing. He’s the number one contender. It should have been him versus Race. The devil lives within him. Strap match versus Sullivan at The Omni. Another killer promo. (Watch)
Hour Two
Lars & Ole Anderson interview. They get one hold and grind on it. Time to fight back against the Russians and Iranians. Brings up the Americans beating the Russians in hockey yesterday. Ole getting political. Tornado Match against The Russians tomorrow in The Omni. (Watch)
NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race interview. Solie disappointed in his actions. Race made wrestling what it is today. He taught Tommy a lesson. Show the footage. It cost Race some bread. He’s gonna eliminate II at The Omni. This version of Race is a great heel. An evil man. Easy to see why he was World Champion. (Watch)
Mr. Wrestling II interview. Very serious and matter of fact. He speaks on behalf of Rich. The people are with him. Race is lower than a snake. He’s hunting Race at The Omni. Going to take the title. Perfect response. (Watch)
Dusty Rhodes & Wahoo McDaniel interview. Sell the match with the Funks again. Two yellow dogs. If their father was alive, he’d whip them! Show the footage of earlier. They know where Dusty be at. He’s cool as hell. (Watch)
Kevin Sullivan interview. He can’t believe what jealous Idol did. He’s gonna beat the evil out of him. (Watch)
Other Results: Steve Travis and Winona Little Heart defeated Charlie Fulton and Joyce Grable. Ivan Koloff and Alexis Smirnoff defeated Gerald Finley and Chick Donovan.
Sun. Feb. 24 Best of Georgia Championship Wrestling
Wahoo McDaniel interview. Got a call from Dusty that needed help. Tonight at the Omni. (Watch)
Austin Idol interview. He got $5K from Race. He claims he sold him real estate. He’s no one’s hitman. Idolmania. Good stuff again. (Watch)
Ray Candy vs. Bob Owen. Solie dropping Steve Keirn and Mike Graham as two wrestlers we’ll see soon. Owen sells funny for The Candyman. Candy wins with a powerslam. Targeting the TV Title. (Watch)
NWA Champ Harley Race interview. He’s not talking about the $5K again. He’s here to take care of his business. You devote your life to earning the World Title. He’s a living legend. Gonna eliminate II tonight. A great heel World Champion promo. (Watch)
Rock Hunter interview. He’s back from managing in other areas. He profits from personal issues. Congratulates to Race and Idol for their courage and guts. He puts over The Russians as well. (Watch)
Another great week of TV. The talent on these shows is unreal and it feels like anything can happen.
Sun. Feb. 24 Omni @ The Omni
Ray Candy defeated Dutch Mantell
Killer Khan defeated Steve Travis
Baron Von Raschke defeated Tenryu
2 on 1 Handicap Match: Tony Atlas defeated Great Mephisto and Abdullah the Butcher
Lumberjack Strap Match: Austin Idol defeated Kevin Sullivan
Texas Tornado Match: Ole Anderson and Lars Anderson defeated Ivan Koloff and Alexis Smirnoff
Funk Brothers (Dory Funk Jr. and Terry Funk) vs. Dusty Rhodes and Wahoo McDaniel ended without a winner as a double disqualification
NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Mr. Wrestling II defeated Harley Race (c) by disqualification
I’ll be back for March with the fallout from The Omni!
If anything is missing or incorrect, please let me know!
Credits: WrestlingData, Retro Wrestling Archive, Kris Zellner, Cagematch.